Mythical01 (Tired Of It All)
by EternalStarhaven
Summary: Re-submission from Nightraven. Years of sacrifice have taken its toll on Earth's heroes, and feeling a sense of betrayal and lack of appreciation from loved ones and friends, new allies and discoveries are made.


Disclaimer: Dbz and Sailor Moon's characters are not mine and copyright of their respective author's. I have no claim over their stuff and I am writing this for fun.

Mythical Origins

Tired Of It All

* * *

><p>New enemy, same fight... Only when their sons were in danger did she suddenly value his fighting skills. Any other time... he was just an irresponsible father. Why did she seem to think it was okay to yell at him; let alone in front of his sons and other friends? He had never asked to come back; he done it because they had had no other alternatives. Was it so hard for her to simply tell him thank you?<p>

He never thought he could hate someone he had once loved, but he did, and decades of fighting had changed him. More Kakarot than Goku now, the human side of him had dwindled away, forced to call upon the Saiya-jin instincts and lust for battle in order to keep this planet and his family alive. Why couldn't any of them figure that out? It was entirely possible Vegeta sensed the changes in him, but the Saiya-jin Prince wouldn't try to smother that, rather he'd kindle it until it burned like the inferno of a Volcano.

Her voice hurt his sensitive hearing, and the louder she became, the harder it became to hold back the explosion of rage. He didn't want to do this in front of Goten, not after everything that had happened, but enough was enough. He couldn't do this anymore.

Goten hesitated with his homework, but didn't dare lift his head out of fear. Both of his sons had always been like that. If they showed any signs of avoiding their homework, she'd lash out at them with verbal reprimands and keep them from enjoying life outside, or spending time with a father that had been dead for nearly 7 years. He hadn't wanted to come back... He hated the fear everyone had of him; he hated the fact that his 'friends' would always need him when a new enemy would appear, and he was so damn tired of saving a world that couldn't save itself.

His son sensed the growing storm inside of his father; any full-blooded or half-blooded Saiya-jin could. Now was no different and his mother had no idea how close to the edge of sanity his father was. Pushing a way from the kitchen table, his father stood and started for the door. However, he didn't make it two steps before Chi-chi's voice grew to shrill levels, enough that even Goten had to grit his teeth in agony.

"Where the hell do you think you're going, Goku?! It's always the same; you going off to play while I stay at home! Your son needs you!"

"Shut... up..." Goten's pencil dropped to the wooden surface, his mouth hanging open and his heart pounding loudly in his chest. His dad never acted on his anger, or his growing hatred of his mother; not that Chi-chi hadn't brought it on herself. "I'm not... Goku. Not anymore."

His eyes were now a red glow, the Oozuru so close to the surface of his conscious awareness. This was bad, very, very bad. Vegeta had once told him that if a Saiya-jin's Oozuru started to surface despite the lack of a full moon, a lot of people would die, or at most the person that had managed to push him into such an agitated state. Even now, his father was fighting it, but there was less and less of a desire to do so.

"What are you talking about?! You become an immortal and suddenly you think you're better than everyone?"

His dad snarled, a black tail smashing heavily against a chair. Normally Goten might not have thought nothing of it, but his father's power was tremendous, and one hit had shattered the object into several pieces. His entire life, his dad had helped others, giving and giving, rarely asking for a thank you in return. How much could a soul endure before they reached the breaking point?

"You walk out the door, don't even think about coming back!" Goten backed away... His mother had absolutely no sense of self-preservation, always assuming she can say or do anything to his dad without any repercussions. Couldn't she see that she had pushed him too far. His father didn't see her like he once had; but with pure resentment.

"Goten, let's go..."

"Wha-?" Chi-chi stammered. She reached for her son, but his father had already inserted himself between them, and for the first time, Chi-chi hesitated, realizing that her husband wasn't backing or giving in like all the other times in their marriage. "I said you; not him..." she stated, but with less force than she had all morning.

"Let me ask you something..." He took a step in her direction, his tail breaking another chair. "Would you have preferred that I allowed Raditz to take our son and destroy Earth 30 years ago? I mean, if you hated fighting so much... Would you have preferred that I had ignored everyone's request at coming back to life, to save not just Gohan, but Goten as well? I mean... it was you that pleaded... not Vegeta... not Piccolo... but ME to save them. It's interesting, that after I grant what YOU wanted, you turn it around and somehow make it out that I'm the irresponsible parent."

"Why is it so hard to understand that I never wanted to kill or hurt anyone? When things calm down, it's back to screaming and ranting... You're the last person to talk to me of responsibility and obligations." Chi-chi continued backing up, having never seen this side of him before. He was beyond furious. "Do you even know the word, 'Thank you,' or was that something you conveniently forgot? All I ever hear is Gohan and Goten needs to study. They can't go outside, they can't have friends, they can't date... When are they allowed to be boys and have a life that doesn't revolve around just fighting and books?!"

"Peace isn't free, Chi-chi! People die for it! I died for it! I sacrificed my mortality for it; and not only am I eternally connected to the dragon, but I have to watch everyone I care for grow old and die! How many more sacrifices do I need to make for you to say 'THANK YOU?!'"

Chi-chi had no idea what to say at first, having never experienced an outburst from him. His eyes were no longer filled with friendly warmth or compassion. He hated her, she saw that, but rather than try to apologize and salvage her marriage, she chose to continue lashing out at him. Goten had once heard Vegeta tell Trunks that Saiya-jins if pushed to a breaking point, occasionally challenge their mate to end the relationship. He was doing that now, and if his mother didn't catch the hint soon, he wasn't so certain she'd survive the next several minutes, let alone years of her life.

Pushing her against the wall, Goku moved within breathing space, his teeth showing, and another snarl echoing throughout the small house. "I gave you everything... a home, your sons... money... It's never enough. Gohan and Goten don't hate me and never have. Why couldn't you just accept what I was and the things I had to give up in order to save their lives? Who was it that went after Gohan when Raditz kidnapped him? Where were you when the Androids came, Cell, Majin Buu, Broli... Where were you when the planet blew up? Hell, even Vegeta had more tolerance, and he has more reason to hate me than anyone! What's your reason, Chi-chi?"

"How dare you talk to me like this!" she hissed. "Get out, but my son stays here..."

"You've had your time with him. For once... I'm going to raise one of our sons."

"What right..."

"I have EVERY right! He's MY son. As for why I should take him... Did you ever feel like you should tell me about the affair you're having with Yamcha?"

The expression on Chi-chi's face was priceless and he wished that he had a Kodak picture for it. "How...?"

"Give me a break, Chi-chi. His scent is all over you! I'm curious, why'd you stay so long if you couldn't stand me? It's not like I would have stopped you."

"You can't have my son."

Kakarot roared and slammed Chi-chi against the wall so hard that she saw stars for several minutes after wards. "If you dare touch what is rightfully mine... You forfeited all rights to him when you turned your back on me and I refuse to have my son raised by a man who has no morals." He let go of Chi-chi and turned to his son, eyes bulging out of his head. "Let's go."

Chi-chi was not willing to give up; "If you take my son, I'll report you for kidnapping!"

"Sit down!" roared Kakarot. "Do you have any idea how humiliating it is to hear you lecture me in front of my sons, friends and the whole world? Besides, who do you think they will award custody of Goten too? The world hero or a cheating wife? If you really want me to disclose to everyone about your affairs then go ahead and challenge me. I promise, Vegeta would break that pretty neck of yours. He may be an arrogant ass, but when it comes to disgracing the Saiya-jin Empire, he has no tolerance or compassion. Stay away from me and my sons. From this moment on, we cease to exist in your eyes."

Kakarot walked out the door with Goten close behind, feeling free for the first time of a bunch of books and rules.

Chi-chi sat on the floor for a long time. "I don't need them. He did me a favor."

* * *

><p>"Dad?" Goten asked. He was hoping his dad had calmed enough to talk to him.<p>

Kakarot looked at his son, the anger gone. In its place was a numb emptiness. He had searched for a long time for someone to understand him, the need to protect and to fight. They were both a part of him, and never again would he accept anyone into his life that didn't have the same need. Goten's gaze was uncertain and afraid. Feeling a twinge of guilt, he smiled, even if he didn't feel the emotions of happiness. For his son's sake, he needed to reassure him that what had just happened wasn't his fault. "Yeah?"

"Where are we going to stay?"

Kakarot frowned; he hadn't really thought that far ahead yet, so overwhelmed with his fight with Chi-chi. "We could try Capsule Corp?"

"Dad... I'm not sure that's a good idea?"

"Why not?"

"Trunks says that Bulma and Vegeta are constantly fighting now."

Kakarot frowned. He had never really stopped to consider that he wasn't the only one having problems. Vegeta, like himself, was an outcast on a planet that didn't accept Saiya-jins. With enemies constantly seeking and targeting them, they often had to fight, not something humans exactly condoned regularly. Even martial arts fanatics seemed appalled at how much the Saiya-jins had to fight, the lengths they had to go in order to surpass their enemies in power.

Reaching Capsule Corporation, Kakarot picked up a lot of shouting going on inside, Trunks sitting outside with his sister. "Might want to come back later," Trunks warned them.

"Stay here," Kakarot told Goten. Trunks gasped, reaching for Kakarot's hand.

"You can't... Mom said to never interrupt when they're like that."

"Just stay here," he told them again.

Leaving the children outside, Kakarot stepped through the door. Not even the servants were around, most of the shouting coming from the kitchen. Why did it always seem that arguments and fights broke out in the kitchen. Food was supposed to be a pleasant experience, not a traumatizing event. Trunks wasn't kidding; Vegeta was livid with rage, but he wasn't the same person he had met so long ago. The old Vegeta would have simply killed her outright, but it was obvious by his expression he loved Bulma.

"How long have you been sleeping with him?"

"Does it matter? Yamcha's around; you're not."

Kakarot couldn't say he was surprised, but the irony of Yamcha sleeping with both women actually seemed funny. His earlier rage came flooding back, but unlike before, he just let it escalate until the wall he had been standing behind collapsed. The argument suddenly stopped, Bulma staring at him with outrage, and Vegeta a mixture of anger and awe. He had no idea why Kakarot was here; usually it was to spar. There was nothing human in his gaze, and the aura around him was close to what he knew as a Saiya-jin rage.

The foundation trembled at the intensity of it, and he wasn't even a Super Saiya-jin. "I always thought you were self-centered and selfish, but I never took you as a complete idiot."

"Wha-?"

"Have you forgotten that Vegeta isn't entirely amiable to this planet or the people living on it? The only thing that's kept him from destroying it was you."

"Kakarot; this isn't your..."

"It is my fight," he snarled at Vegeta, the red glow back in his eyes. Whatever had set Kakarot off, it was now directed completely at Bulma. Not that he was complaining. Taking a step towards her, he backed her up against a wall, his hands caging her in. "I'm half tempted to help him finish what he started," he taunted, watching her complexion pale. "I'm not exactly oblivious to how everyone feels when we're not in danger. It's fear... and jealousy... and hate... The humans hate us, to include you. If it wasn't for the enemies we've had to fight, you wouldn't have had to pretend friendship."

"That's not true..." she protested, but the cracking of the wall had her stop in mid-sentence.

"Isn't it though... You tried to take the Dragon Ball when I was a child. The only reason you offered to let me go with you is because you wanted it to make a wish... a selfish one at that. It didn't change; when it comes to something you wanted, you never cared who you manipulated or how you achieved your goals."

Vegeta was beyond speechless. Was this really Kakarot? Refusing to indulge his Saiya-jin nature all his life, he had always taken the peaceful solution versus killing his adversaries. The fact that Kakarot was even siding with him at all had him in a state of shocked disbelief, the truth like a cold bucket of water. For so long, he had hated this man; why would he suddenly turn on his childhood friend? "Don't... Death is often seen as an honor where we come from; I will not give her that."

Kakarot glared at him, but relented, pushing himself away from Bulma. "Staying here seems to be out. Any other suggestions."

"Why not your own place?"

"I'm not exactly welcomed there any longer."

Vegeta had had more than enough surprises for a day. "Seems that's the theme for the day then. What about Gohan?"

Kakarot considered it, crossing his arms. He knew for a fact Gohan would never turn Goten or his father away; would he take in Vegeta and his kids as well? At least for a night or so. "Let's go," Kakarot agreed.

"Wait!" Bulma shouted, but one snarl from Vegeta had her shrinking back. This hadn't been the first time she had cheated on him, but he had never indicated that he was going to leave.

"You want him... you can have him," Vegeta told her. Storming outside, he took his daughter from his son and headed for Gohan's, leaving Bulma alone with his former rival.

"Stay away from us," Kakarot warned. Unlike Chi-chi, she wasn't stupid enough to challenge Kakarot, knowing nothing and no one had the ability to stop him.

Catching up to them was simple, Vegeta and the group flying in silence. "I should have destroyed this place years ago."

"Next time I won't stop you," Kakarot snapped. If he hadn't had his daughter, he would have fallen or crashed into something. What ever was upsetting him, Kakarot was at the point of just not caring anymore. Glancing at Goten; "Gohan's not having problems also; is he?"

Arriving at his oldest son's home, he saw him playing with his only child in the yard. After losing his wife from cancer, Gohan had thrown all his attention towards Pan, struggling to deal with the pain. "Hey, dad. What's up?"

"We kind of need a place to stay."

Gohan sensed something was off about them, but rather than question them in front of Pan, he settled her into bed first before making them dinner and listening to Goten and Trunks retell everything. "I was hoping either of them might change, but I guess that's what you get for hoping for the best. Never quite works out that way."

"You knew?" Kakarot asked.

Gohan nodded, moving to an open window to watch the setting of the sun. "I think Mom started having affair with Yamcha about the time Goten was a year old. For a while, after you came back, I believe she broke it off with him. However, always frustrated that you have to take off fighting our battles; she started the relationship back up. That's about the time Yamcha started things up with Bulma. He isn't exactly a one woman type of guy." Glancing at his father; "What did you have in mind?"

"I'm leaving; for good."

"Wha-?"

"Tomorrow I'm heading to the lookout. Stay or follow; the choice is really not mine to make."

* * *

><p>The next morning, Dende and Piccolo didn't seem surprised at the sudden visit. "It's been awhile."<p>

"I'm leaving. Stay or go with us; the choice is yours to make. Know this, to stay, you will forget our existence and the events that have transpired over the past five decades."

"Did you have a place in mind?"

"Not a place; a time. The humans, are they strong enough to survive into the future? How many times must we fight their battles? Will they be able to do it on their own or die out? I want, no I need to know if saving this planet was worth the sacrifices we made."

All of them sensed their friend's pain, having often felt the isolation from the humans as well. Sure, they had made an alliance with them, but it wasn't enough. After the end of each battle, humans forgot or didn't seem to remember that the Saiya-jins and Nameks had gone out of their ways to save them. Part of that was of their own doing, having wiped the horrors from their minds, but the same could not be said for Bulma or Chi-chi.

"Is Shenron going to allow it?"

"He might, if it assures that no one will try to seek him out."

* * *

><p>Piccolo, not acting surprised, had wondered why it had taken Vegeta and Goku so long to separate their ties to their mates. "I have nothing to do anyway."<p>

"Dad, we don't have the dragon balls with us," said Gohan.

"I'm part of the dragon, remember? I can use his power without gathering or having them in front of me."

Concentrating on the immortal being within him, he felt Shenron stir, studying the pain with Kakarot and the other Saiya-jins and Nameks. "_Can you do it_?" He mentally asked him; "_Can you send us to the future, give us our tails back, and erase the memories and ties of our existence from the humans_?"

"Yes and granted._" _And everything faded, the lookout, and the Earth they had known. Seconds later, they re-appeared in the middle of a city none of them recognized, an almost got his by more sophisticated cars.

"Kakarot!" Vegeta roared. "What the hell did you do?! Where are we?"

"No idea. Don't really care."

"Dad..." his son asked, not certain about their current situation. He knew life had been about to change, but to go to the future? Where would he go to school at? Who would take care of Bra and Pan?

Kakarot didn't really care if they liked their new surroundings or not. He had warned them; if they hadn't wanted to come here, they shouldn't have followed him. Vegeta paused, noting that he no longer felt the pain of Bulma's betrayal, or the need to continue going back to her despite not being wanted. "Hmmm.. I suppose it's not so bad."

"Dad," Gohan asked him, swinging Pan to his back. Glancing upwards, they noticed planes flying over head, and decided until they got an idea of what this future was like, they'd resort to walking or running. "Did we have a plan in mind once we got here, or was this all spontaneous."

"Part plan, part spontaneous. It's not like we had a future where we were at. Obviously the human's survived..."

"What about college?" Vegeta suggested. Everyone gaped at the Saiya-jin Prince. He hated book learning as much as Kakarot did, but he was also not one to joke around. "We know nothing of this time, how long it's been since ours, or the type of dangers they've faced. We're going to look extremely out of place if we don't know key events."

"Can't we just go to the library?" Gohan asked.

"No."

"Let's do it," Kakarot agreed. Vegeta they might have understood, but Kakarot and education had never mixed in the past. Even Piccolo looked taken aback. "Just because I didn't like it, doesn't mean that I didn't understand it."

"Dad?" Goten "School's hard."

"Is it? I've read your books; they seemed relatively simple, despite lacking irrelevance to everything we've had to face."

"Why did you never tell anyone, especially mom?"

"She never bothered to ask if I read your books. Neither did Bulma. I understood a lot more than everyone thought I did, and I researched what I needed in order to win." All of them sighed, but were they not any better. Kakarot seemed ignorant most of the time, but it was more than likely his way of deceiving his opponents. You couldn't fool your enemies if you couldn't fool your enemies. "Question is;" he stated, looking at Gohan. "Can you get us in? We don't have a history here, so you're going to have to make one up."

"Give me a couple of days."

* * *

><p>Sensing the disturbance in the time line, Pluto dropped her fork and vanished, not explaining to her friends where she was going or why. Stepping in front of one of the portals, she paled. How was it, that every time she started to get things fixed, one of the Saiya-jins had to go and mess it up again. Damn them, and damn that dragon god!"<p>

* * *

><p>Just as the Saiya-jins were arriving in her time line, Usagi was zipping up her duffel bag and looking around her temporary home for the last time. "Ready to go back."<p>

"The question isn't if I'm ready, but if you are. Will you be able to confront them if necessary?" Artemis asked.

Artmesis knew her, despite the past four years of hardening herself to emotion. Other than himself and the old couple that had taken her in, she had not bothered to make a single friend. She was stronger, faster, and even an Honor Roll student in her current school. He was proud of her, but he wanted the old Usagi back.

"Running wasn't the way to solve my problem with them; but at the time, I didn't know what else to do. I'm still not sure, but I guess I'll figure it out." Her eyes flashed, and the emotion disappeared. Artmesis ached for her, knowing she'd never cry or voice the emotional pain the others had inflicted on her.

**~Flash Back~**

It was a typical study session, one Usagi hadn't wanted to bother with. Why was it so important to go to school and study when they were just going to have to fight again? It was pointless in her mind, and exhausting. Night after night, they went on patrol, and they were expected to get back up and go to school as if nothing was out of place. She was tired of it; the humans never seemed to remember what had happened to them, and Usagi was pushed to the mental limits when the Sailor Senshi didn't seem to understand why she seemed to want more down time or isolation from all the hate and violence.

Was it her fault that she got another detention? She struggled to wake up in the mornings, and it took everything in her to even bother showing up to the study sessions, late or not. That afternoon, she had been late, just getting out of detention. "Usagi! Aren't you ever going to do things right?! If you had just done your homework last night, you wouldn't have gotten detention in the first place."

Rei and Usagi were always fighting, and most of the time she would have had something to say; instead to both their surprises, the other girls started in as well. "I hate to say it, but Rei's right," Makoto stated. "You give very little effort in and out of school, you're slacking off in training, and it's going to get you hurt or killed."

Anger and hurt flashed in her eyes, but they didn't stop. What did any of them know of the sacrifices she had had to make? None of them had their memories of what had happened; only Usagi. She had been the last one standing, to travel a universe, and it had been Usagi making one more sacrifice so that they can live their pointless dreams. What about her dreams? How did she forget? It wasn't possible, and she knew this now.

"Usagi, high school entrance exams are a week away. You're not going to make it, not with all the 50s your making. I try to tell you how to solve the problems, but you just don't listen." Technical Amy, always more concerned with her books than common sense or real life scenarios that couldn't be taught in a manual or class.

Barely containing her anger, she glanced at Minako, watching her hesitate. "Might as well add your input." Rei almost told her not to, but Usagi lifted her hand. Her fiery tempered friend she understood, they always fought. But that gave the others no right, and she wanted everything out in the open between them.

"You're reckless and not a leader at times, Usagi. Granted, you are powerful, stronger than all of us. But you're irresponsible. What if one day you can't save us?"

Grabbing her bag, she stood, and touched Rei's shoulder before turning for the door. She never said anything more; why bother telling them what she had suffered or endured so that they could live. "Where's she going?" Makoto demanded, prepared to shout for her to come back.

"Back... off..." Rei hissed, startling all of them into silence. "You're all idiots! If anyone had ever bothered to ask her, you would have known that we did die! All of us! Has anyone bothered to figure out that six month gaps in our memories. The fire gives me hints, but all I see is a darkness and she was in the thick of it."

"She'll come back," Ami stated, putting down her book. "She always does."

Rei wasn't so sure she would this time, but bothering to tell the girls that was pointless. _Be careful, _Usagi. She loved her friend, but if she chose to disappear or ignore them for awhile, it would be a necessary wake up call to the other Senshi that Usagi suffered more than they realized and did what she needed in order not to break or snap under the pressure.

"Did you hear her complain or cry about anything you said?" Rei growled, heat pulsing around her. The other girls shifted uncomfortably. "She asked you to finish... that's not an irresponsible leader, but the person accusing her of it." Standing up, she stormed out of the room, and glanced at the sky. "Please, keep her safe," she pleaded to no one in particular. Usagi's expression had been different this time, filled with so much rage and sorrow.

* * *

><p>Head down, Usagi walked home. Unaware of her surroundings, she bumped into another person, wincing at the impact. "Usako..." the voice sighed, "one of these days you're going to fall over a cliff and not see it coming."<p>

The last think she had expected or needed was Mamoru to smart off as well. She knew he didn't mean it, but ever since they had come back, she had been different, angry and depressed. Walking past him, she didn't say anything back. It wasn't really his fault, but things couldn't stay the way they were and Crystal Tokyo was never going to happen.

Mamoru had no idea how to act. She normally would have laughed or whined for him to forgive her or something silly like that. But her eyes were cold and distant, far from being the kind-hearted Usagi he knew so well. She was gone before he could go after her, and he sighed, hoping to talk to her later. Perhaps she just needed a little space.

She wanted to cry, but no tears would come and she stayed up through the night thinking. She didn't want to face any of them again for a long time, to forget the pain and haunting memories of the battles she had suffered crossing the galaxy to save them. When dawn hit the next day, she had thought of a plan. For over a year she had been saving her allowance for a car and had quite a bit of money. Grabbing her bags Usagi walked a few blocks, not wishing anyone in her family to see what she was about to do. On the way to the airport, she ran into Artemis.

"Usagi?" He was glancing at the bags in her hands and was instantly concerned. Artemis was terrified of the look in her eyes, wanting to ask what was wrong. They looked sad and tired. "What are you doing?"

Her eyes quivered and she turned her head away from the white cat. "Why don't you go see what Luna's up too."

"No." Usagi looked at the cat startled. His expression was serious and something else that she couldn't describe. "I'm staying, and if you don't like it, I'm going to call the other girls here and now."

Usagi placed her bags on the ground and gently picked up the cat and hugged him. "Artemis, I don't want the girls with me, do you understand? If you wish to stay, then I'm not going to stop you, but I am going to tell you now. If you're going to lecture me, tell a living soul what I'm about to do or where I'm going then you may as well stay here and walk away now."

Artemis was silent for a few moments, trying to make his decision. When he and Luna arrived at the temple he had noticed the girls seemed tense. None of them would say why Usagi hadn't showed for the meeting. Something must have happened, but why did he notice and not Luna? Luna had gone into her lecturing mode on how irresponsible Usagi was for not showing up to the meeting, but from the look on the young woman's face he felt there was a good reason for her not being there. "I'm staying with you and if you don't want anyone else to know, then I'll respect your wishes. I've never lectured you before and I'm not about to start now."

Usagi nodded and placed Artemis in one of her carry on bags to the plane. When she walked a mile from home, she signaled a taxi that took her to the airport. After she paid the driver, Usagi walked up to the check in station where a young woman was taking peoples' tickets.

"What is your destination," the lady asked.

"America."

The lady looked at the young girl and frowned. This girl didn't look old enough to be on her own, let alone traveling to a different country. "How old are you?"

"Old enough to travel and pay you the money you need. Now can I get a ticket or not?" Usagi said in an authoritative voice.

_I don't get paid enough for this," _the lady thought. Rolling her eyes, she did as Usagi asked and handed her a plane ticket to California. Her passport seemed authenticate enough, but what she didn't know was that Usagi had used her Luna pen to forge one. Finding her seat all the way in the back, Artemis jumped out of the bag and into her lap, trying to figure out what had gone wrong and why? Usagi was hurting, but she wasn't yet ready to talk about it and he feared that if he said anything she'd force him to stay behind. As the plane took off, Usagi stared out the window and at the disappearing view of Japan.

The following morning when Usagi didn't show for class, the Senshi started to grow uneasy. Perhaps Usagi had taken everything harder than they had originally thought. With the exception of Rei, none of them had lost sleep over they things they had said, nor did they bother to try calling her mother to check on her. Instead, they all went to Rei's temple for another study session, but after an hour they received a phone call.

"Hello," Rei answered. "Sendei Hill Temple."

"Rei, this is Mrs. Tuskino. I was wondering, have you seen my daughter? She wasn't in bed this morning and I figured it was because she went to school early. But, she never came home, nor did she call to say she was going to be late."

Rei felt her heart sink. She had known, but Usagi needed to do this. Keeping her voice calm, she explained to Usagi's mother that they would help look for her. Hanging up the phone, her hair covered the anguish in her expression, a tear sliding down her cheek.

"What's wrong, Rei?" Minako asked.

"Did any of you bother to ask why Usagi wasn't at school this morning? Or were you still caught up in your selfish ideas of what she should be and act like?"

"We just assumed she wanted more space," Minako explained, a tremor of terror in her voice.

"She was home last night;" Luna stated. "I thought it odd that she was in bed early; up early too."

"Luna," Makoto whispered. "Did Usagi seem a bit out of it when you saw her last night?"

"Now that you mention it, yes. She didn't eat a thing last night, didn't say a word, nor did she say a thing to me about me lecturing her for not being at the meeting yesterday."

"Where did you get that idea, Luna?" Minako asked. "She did show up. Usagi just didn't stay."

"Why didn't you say something then?"

"Because we said some things that we shouldn't have."

The girls told Luna what they had said and the cat was speechless. She was about to start lecturing them on how they should be her protectors and not her parents, when her whole body felt like sinking to the floor. She had done the same thing. It probably had made the situation worse instead of better. "Oh god. What have we done?" Tears poured from the black cat's eyes and the girls started to realize the impact of what they had said and done.

Minako suddenly realized that someone else was missing out of their group. "Where's Artemis? Did he not come over Luna?"

"No."

Ami was becoming frantic. "What if something happened to both of them and we didn't know about it?" She pulled out her computer, but couldn't find a trace of them anywhere, which meant she was masking the crystal. For several minutes the girls looked at her anxiously, hoping against hope that they would get a lock on their friend. "We're going to have to look for her the old fashion way, on foot."

Rei already knew they wouldn't find Usagi until she was ready to return. That didn't mean she would tell the girls that; the longer they spent searching, and coming back empty handed, the more that it would sink in about how their actions had consequences. None of them knew Usagi any longer, and hadn't for a long time, caught up in how things used to be.

The Sailor Senshi weren't the only ones plagued with guilt, but Usagi's younger brother, and her boyfriend. One day, she was just gone.


End file.
